Notarial law

Estate law

Our notaries have in-depth knowledge of all aspects of wills and estate law and real estate law. They have solid expertise in drafting holographic wills and wills made in the presence of witnesses, estate liquidation, estate planning and the division of family assets and matrimonial property.

Because estate planning and administration require solid accounting and tax expertise, our notaries work closely with our tax lawyers to advise clients on how to achieve their family and financial goals while taking advantage of tax opportunities.

When necessary, our team also calls on Dunton Rainville’s estate litigation lawyers. Not only do these professionals have an exemplary track record in estate disputes, but they are also accustomed to the sensitive nature of these situations. We represent beneficiaries, executors and personal representatives in a wide range of contentious situations, including interpretation of wills, executor defaults, distribution of estates, as well as challenges to wills, trusts and powers of attorney.

Specialized services:

• Drafting, verification and interpretation of wills
• Estate liquidation
• Estate planning and administration
• Verification of notarial, holographic and witnessed wills
• Estate litigation
• Responsibilities and duties of liquidators
• Death without a will
• Contesting a will or liquidator
• Application for declaratory judgment
• Asset inventory
• Distribution of estates

Personal law (wills, mandates, probate and tutorship)

Our team of notaries is deeply involved in issues related to the rights of individuals in vulnerable situations.

Our notaries’ expertise includes the opening of protective regimes (tutorship, curatorship, advisors to adults), the homologation of protective mandates (in anticipation of incapacity), general and specific powers of attorney, advance medical directives, marriage or civil union contracts, separation agreements, adoption applications, as well as de facto union agreements.

When it comes to personal law, our notaries maintain close relationships with their clients, especially as they are called upon to advise them on various life events. Our professionals stand out for their ability to accompany clients through the trials and tribulations of life, whether involving incapacity, the death of a loved one, illness, accident or break-up. In painful and emotional situations, they advise their clients with skill and humanity.

Specialized services:

• Establishment of protective regimes (tutorship, curatorship, advisor to an adult)
• Drafting and homologation of protective mandates in anticipation of incapacity
• General and specific powers of attorney
• Medical care and advance medical directives
• Marriage or civil union contracts or breakdown of such unions
• De facto union agreements
• Separation agreements
• Adoption applications
• Inter vivos trusts
• Testamentary trusts

Real estate and co-ownership

Dunton Rainville brings together a team of notaries and lawyers who specialize in real estate law, including real estate transactions and co-ownership.

Our team provides a wide range of services to clients in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors, including the examination of provisions relating to the purchase and sale of real estate, the financing of properties, the negotiation and drafting of commercial leases and various deeds relating to real estate law, the examination of property titles and the publication of deeds of sale and mortgage deeds in the land register.

In any real estate transaction, both buyer and seller have obligations, and the acting notary is responsible for ensuring that these are met. On the buyer’s side, the notary must, among other things, arrange financing for the purchase, receive the down payment, anticipate his or her fees, verify the immovable’s certificate of location, make monetary deductions and verify the activities of the syndicate of co-ownership. On the seller’s side, the notary must, among other things, obtain a copy of the deed of acquisition of the property and previous titles, as well as an up-to-date copy of the certificate of location, ensure that the seller has discharged the existing mortgage and that it is now free of all rights, and obtain official confirmation of the status of property taxes.

Specialized services:

• Purchase and sale of real estate
• Acquisition financing
• Negotiation and drafting of various deeds relating to real estate law
• Examination of title deeds
• Verification of certificates of location
• Discharge or cancellation of a mortgage
• Down payment and other expenses (e.g., notarial fees, amounts owed to the seller, holdbacks as part of the offer to purchase)
• Property tax statements
• Syndicate of co-ownership audits
• Support in the process of setting up a co-ownership
• Analysis of declarations of co-ownership
• Rewriting declarations of co-ownership
• Modification of declarations of co-ownership
• Preparation and chairing of co-owners’ meetings